Schools and “Gay” Clubs

04 Jan Schools and “Gay” Clubs

United Families International wishes you a very happy and successful New Year! Entrenched though we are in the battles that abound to protect your family, we are optimistic about the New Year and all that is being done to promote and protect the family. We feel strongly that as you are informed about those issues that threaten your family, you will join with us in defending and preserving that which we all hold dear! One such issue that hits very close to home for many parents is the issue of “gay” clubs on secondary public school campuses.

How do you feel about your local school board approving and providing facilities for “gay” clubs? Is secondary school the appropriate time and place for a child to come out as gay, lesbian or bisexual? Does joining a “gay” club and the associated self-labeling increase the incidence to students of suicide, psychological disorder, or HIV infection?

Scott Soulier, DPM, MSPH, and a friend of UFI in Utah, thoroughly researched the danger of self-labeling by joining a “gay” club at a time when an adolescent may be vulnerable to peer influence, uninformed and psychologically unprepared. Dr. Soulier shared his research with Utah school boards and officials. Following is a brief synopsis of some of Dr. Soulier’s findings and sources. We think this research is relevant to anyone concerned about the health and safety of students in public schools.

Warmly,

Carol Soelberg
President, United Families International

Should Public Schools Protect Students from Early Self-Labeling as “Gay?”

by Scott M. Soulier

All students need to be as safe as possible in school. It has long been asserted (and is superficially plausible) that bullying from other students, loss of friendship, and other external influences cause the depression, mental illness, and worst of all, suicide attempts, and suicides in students who consider themselves “gay.” This forms a foundational argument for having “gay” clubs in school. Research that has long been suppressed by both the media and homosexual activists does not support these beliefs.

Having a “gay” club to join in the secondary school setting is tantamount to inviting students to self-label as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or sympathetic to the same. Adolescents are psychologically unprepared to ponder such a question. It is simply and demonstrably unsafe for youth to be allowed or encouraged to prematurely self-label.

Supporting this view are studies that address early labeling in adolescents. Research by Remafedi, et al. provides some provocative insight into the harm caused by pre-mature self-labeling as gay or lesbian. The primary conclusions of these researchers are:

1. “…for each year’s delay in bisexual or homosexual labeling, the odds of suicide attempts are diminished by 20%.”

2. “…suicide attempts were not explained by experiences with discrimination, violence, loss of friendship, or current personal attitudes towards homosexuality.”

3. “…gender nonconformity and precocious psychosocial development were predictive of self-harm.

From the Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Remafedi, French, Story, et al. published findings from another study that concluded:

“There is evidence of a strong association between suicide risk and bisexuality or homosexuality in males”. In this study, 28.1% of bisexual/homosexual males reported suicide attempts vs. only 4.2% of heterosexual males.

(Gary Remafedi, MD, MPH, et al. (1998) The Relationship between Suicide Risk and Sexual Orientation: Results of a Population -Based Study. American Journal of Public Health. 1998;88:57-60.)

Dr. George Rekers, Professor of Neuropsychiatry at the University of South Carolina concluded:

“No service is done to our children by offering them lifestyle options before they are properly able to make informed choices about them.”

Research conducted in one of the most gay-affirming societies in the world, the Netherlands, points to gay behavior itself as the engine that drives the mental distress. One such study was published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. Sandfort, et al. conducted the study using robust data and concluded:

“Psychiatric disorders were more prevalent among homosexually active people compared to heterosexually active people. Homosexual men had a higher prevalence of mood disorders…than heterosexual men. Homosexual women had a higher 12-month prevalence of substance abuse disorders than heterosexual women…More homosexual than heterosexual persons had 2 or more disorders during their lifetime…The findings support the assumption that people with same-sex sexual behavior are at greater risk for psychiatric disorders.”

Demographics prepared by the Utah Department of Health on the subject of persons suffering from HIV or AIDS in Utah indicate that,

“Most people living with HIV or AIDS in Utah are between the ages of 20 and 40 (77%). However, we know that many of them acquired infection during their teen age years, so prevention efforts need to focus on that age group as well.”

In the interest of maintaining a safe environment for public school students, interested members of the public may want to encourage public school officials to adopt school club policies that protect students from dangerous early self-labeling.